£4k On A Warm(ish) Hatch?

dangermouse425

dangermouse425

dangermouse425

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16 Aug 2011
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Reading, Berks
I've been looking at cheap (~£2kish) cars, and have decided to up the budget to £4k as I got bored of looking at ratty Ford Focuses with dents in them.

I'm looking for a car with a bit of character that doesn't sap the will to live out of me when I look at it or drive it. I'd rather not have anything Mondeo-sized, and not Fiesta-sized either.

I've been looking at the following kind of cars.

VW Golf
Ford Focus
Seat Leon
Honda Civic

I'm 26 with a few years NCB under my belt, in a non-ghetto part of Berkshire so insurance shouldn't be a drama.

5 door preferably, but 3 door for the right car would be ok, and petrol. Something around 30mpg+? Or would diesel be more suited because of my mileage? When I'm not commuting, it's mostly short trips at weekends.

Cruise control would be nice, but not a deal breaker. The commute is 2-3 times a week, 140 mile return journey, Reading to Bedford. I have a motorbike so in the summer months I will use that to share the commuting burden too.

Anyone care to suggest anything? Links to examples near to RG40 1AS? I'm overwhelmed by the amount of choice without a clear idea of what I want, I keep flicking between crappy £1k runabouts to hot premium hatches with high miles at £4k.

TL;DR: Decent medium hatch for £3k-£4k that doesn't make my soul weep with its averageness.
 
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Well, the Focus would struggle to get 30mpg I think, the CTR would but it's not 5 doors. And I doubt you could get an FN2 with that budget so you'd be left with the EP3 which isn't the best choice for long journeys, especially if cruise control is something you'd like. Can you get a Mk5 GTI within budget? That looks like the sensible choice but I don't know what they'ye going for now.
 
You've got the key players there really - all will do a 140-150bhp petrol that should give you reasonable economy, reliability and performance.

Personally I'd just base it on whatever you find it easiest to lob the bikes into, they're all fine. I know you said you're not after anything bigger but the likes of an a4 avant or Octavia estate would make the bikes a bit easier - reality is they're hardly any bigger feeling really
 
Mk5 Golf GTI would surely be pretty hard to find a decent one in that budget no?

Petrol and 30+ mpg I'm not so sure about either, unless on a run. Every sporty petrol I've had has been 30 mpg tops, but then I bought petrols to boost them about to be fair.

Also, I would suggest at a potential 20k per year commute, a diesel would be absolutely worthwhile. I understand why people prefer petrols when they do small miles, but you aint.

For your requirements, as said above, I'd be looking at A4 avant / Octavia Estate. You should be able to pick up a pretty nice 1.9 TDI which should return about 50 MPG. Should have the 130 BHP engine, so can be remapped to around 170 BHP if you need it without affecting mpg's too much.

And doing 50 mpg rather than 30 mpg over your commuting distance, should save you around £1700 per year in fuel (and tax and insurance will no doubt be cheaper too).
 
I know you said 5 doors, but what about a Clio 182?

I have a roof rack, but have fitted two bikes in the boot before (with seats down).
 
rodenal said:
Personally I'd just base it on whatever you find it easiest to lob the bikes into, they're all fine. I know you said you're not after anything bigger but the likes of an a4 avant or Octavia estate would make the bikes a bit easier - reality is they're hardly any bigger feeling really
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Cheers, mate. The bike thing is only occasionally, and I can always get a rack on top or on the back. That said, what are old Audi A4s like to service, price-wise?
 
Personally, if your doing a good number of miles I'd say you want a car that puts a smile on your face when you drive it. For me this would be one of the biggest factors.
You said you'd like to fit a couple of mountain bikes in the back occasionally, and a 5 door would probably help with that.
Have you considered a Skoda Fabia vRS (the older shape) it's a 5 door, 1.9 diesel turbo with plenty of getup and go and gives cracking mpg (my mate who had one was averaging at least 50mpg).
If that's not to your fancy I say stick with a 3 door and maybe go for a Clio 182 (as has already been suggested) or get an ep3 Civic Type R, they obviously won't get as good mpg, but they'll make up for it in grin factor every time you drive :)
 
Mk 8 Civic EX or ES model with panaoramic sunroof, cruise control, dual zone CC , possibly integrated sat-nav , loads of interior space , 1.8 petrol or 2.2 diesel. Good cars.
 
dangermouse425 said:
Cheers, mate. The bike thing is only occasionally, and I can always get a rack on top or on the back. That said, what are old Audi A4s like to service, price-wise?
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That's fair enough, if you're happy with a rack then don't let size stop you ( though personally I wouldn't have a fabia vrs, most are manky inside by now and they still carry a bit of scene tax for what they are.) The Audi is just a vag 1.8t so servicing is fairly average - they are far from exciting to drive though unless you get one with a v8 ( which you won't be) for the hilarious noise.

I got the impression you were after a middle of the road type hatch, not a "hot" hatch I.e golf gti?
 
rodenal said:
I got the impression you were after a middle of the road type hatch, not a "hot" hatch I.e golf gti?
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I think my head and budget are telling me to get a middle of the road type hatch, but my heart wants something a bit nicer.

I sold my 3.0i Z4 last month, so I'm worried I'll be bored with something like a 1.6 litre diesel generic hatch. I spent some of the Z4 money on a motorbike, hence the lower budget.
 
Mazda3 Sport. Not particularly common and well-specced compared to some of the competition; mine has Bose audio, HIDs, rear LEDs, auto lights and wipers, cruise control, full electric windows and a 6CD changer (not that that's much of a selling point these days).
 
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